Figure 3.

Alveolar and ductal architecture of breast epithelia shown through fluorescence and histological images. (A) An alveolus from a lactating mammary gland, showing luminal epithelial cells with cell–cell adhesion junctions (green, E-cadherin) and cell–matrix interactions (red, laminin-111). The central lumen is where milk collects. (B) The duct of a nonpregnant gland is stained with an antibody to laminin (brown) and counterstained with hematoxylin. Note that the laminin-containing basement membrane surrounds the ductal epithelial cells, and outside this lie collagenous connective tissue and adipocytes. Figure B courtesy of Dr. Rama Khokha.